Koochu unit
by ben8615
Summary: "You do realise, newbie," he whispered back, "That this is the third planet in a row that you've asked me the same question?" Clones can be perfect. Some, not so much. A story of a not so important unit being awesome regardless. Then order 66 happens.


_Characters:_

 _Clones - CT-4482, Estas, Stump, Tarion, Jared, Ahmed, Box_

 _Jedi (Zabrak) - Renika Tauatt_

* * *

The dust swirled in mini tornadoes as the Republican ship came in to land.

"And we've arrived!" Box exclaimed, straightening up from the steerer. "Three standard hours ahead of schedule, too!"

"Good," Jedi Knight Renika replied, sweeping her hair back into a ponytail as she stood from the co-pilot's seat and strode towards the ship's exit. "Ahmed, have you got the stats on the planet's OPT yet?"

As Ahmed turned to the computers, CT-4482 turned to the older trooper next to him.

"Hey, Stump, what's OPT mean again?" he whispered. Stump rolled his eyes, but let out a gruff chuckle as he turned.

"You do realise, newbie," he whispered back, "That this is the third planet in a row that you've asked me the same question?"

CT-4482 looked down at his boots and shrugged. "Sorry, sir," he muttered, still keeping his voice low. "I'll pay closer attention this time."

Stump grinned again, and cuffed his shoulder.

"See that you do, 4482. If you don't pay attention, you might end up losing a couple of fingers." He gestured to his dud hand. "It's not fun, I'll tell ya. Oh, and OPT stands for oxygen, pressure and temperature."

CT-4482 nodded once, and their conversation dwindled to a stop as Renika began to speak.

"Alright. Ahmed's data shows that whilst the air is breathable, the temperature is warmer than recommended for human physiology. Keep your temperature regulators on at all times." She moved to the side as the clones grabbed their helmets. "There is a possibility that we will encounter advanced life forms. If we need to split up; Estas, Ahmed and CT-4482 come with me, and Stump, Jared, Box and Tarion stick together. Am I clear?"

A chorus of 'Yes, sir's' resounded, and Renika turned back towards the doors. "May the force be with you."

* * *

"This is boring as _shab_ ," Estas complained, his gun held carelessly at his side. "I thought we'd at least get to shoot someone!" he paused, tilting his head, "Or something. Or even just shoot at nothing. I'm bored!" CT-4482 trudged along next to him, a trickle of sweat running down his forehead. He wished he could wipe it off, but he knew that foregoing his helmet would only make it worse. Their small crew had been cataloguing for five hours on the planet's dusty surface, but they were yet to encounter more than a few shrubs.

"C'mon you _di'kut_ ," Tarion growled, "this mission isn't the best, but you know it's better than the alternative." He quickened his pace, leaving the two younger troopers behind as he worked to catch up with Renika. Estas grumbled again, but CT-4482 tuned him out. He knew Tarion was right. As the war got larger and bloodier, the Republic began petitioning the Kaminoans for more troops, and in order to keep up with increased production schedules, the quality of the clones being produced was beginning to drop. Clones that would usually be terminated for 'lack of mental prowess' or 'slight difficulty following orders' were kept in training, and used for less important missions where it didn't matter if they screwed up a little. Renika had been saddled with one such koochu unit, and although their mission wasn't exhilirating, the only alternative for most of them was termination. It had been Renika's master who first took on the burden of a koochu unit, and three standard months ago when Renika had passed the trials, she had carried on the tradition.

"Oi, shinies, hurry up!" Stub yelled from up ahead, breaking CT-4482 from his thoughts. "You're falling behind!"

"Sorry sir!" he called back, and picked up his pace, Estas dragging his feet along after him.

"I hear some of my troopers are lagging," a voice rang from behind them, and CT-4482 jumped as Estas sputtered to a halt. They whipped around to find Renika standing behind them. Her face was impassive as always, but CT-4482 swore he could see her eyes twinkling.

"Uuh, no sir, sorry sir. It won't happen again," Estas stammered, straightening his posture.

CT-4482 stayed silent, but under his helmet he was grinning. Their leader may have a _dejaric_ -face to rival Mace Windu, but the whole unit knew she had a wicked sense of humour.

"See that it doesn't, Estas," Renika cautioned, but her voice lacked any bite.

Estas' head bobbed up and down in agreement, and Renika nodded once before turning to CT-4482.

"You, too, forty-four."

"Yes sir," he answered, back straight but arms loose by his sides. "I apologise for our tardiness."

She nodded to him too, and then took off towards the front of the group, cloak billowing behind her. Estas and CT-4482 shared a glance, before speeding up to match pace with Stub. The older clone shook his head as they jogged past the others to catch up with him, but he laughed as CT-4482 looked down.

"I have to say, kid, you're lucky we've got her around."

CT-4482 thought of the alternatives, of the horror stories of harsh Jedi, and of the tales Jared and Ahmed had woven of their treatment before they'd been assigned to this unit.

Yes, they were all very lucky to have Renika.

* * *

Palpatine leaned back in his chair and activated his comm unit. Today was the day, decades in the making, and all the planning was falling into place. As the blue image flickered alight, a smile slithered its way onto his crumpled face.

The clone stared at him, face obscured by his orange helmet.

"What are your orders, Supreme Chancellor?"

There should have been a climactic silence, a pause in time as the universe built towards the singular moment that would tear it apart, but instead, there was only a brief moment before the words were spoken.

"Execute order 66."

The comm deactivated, and the signal beamed through the galaxy, clones turning against their Jedi as the chips in their brains sparked to life.

Palpatine chuckled, dark and rolling, as he sat in his quiet office to watch the galaxy burn.

And when the flames died down, the Sith would rule, and the galaxy would again know peace.

* * *

Box's groaning was the first warning they had. The groan was a familiar one, and Box was known to use it in times when the world got too big and bright for him, but it wasn't a sound that a deserted planet was known to invoke. He reeled to the side, hands tugging at his helmet, but he didn't have a chance to get it off before the order hit them full force.

CT-4482's head gave a sharp throb, and his eyes locked themselves onto Renika's forehead. She had turned at Box's sound, eyes scanning the surroundings as she gripped her saber. She was fully focused, ready for battle as the first blaster bolt thumped into her shoulder. CT-4482 frowned. Were they being attacked? Where had the bolt come from? Why couldn't he turn around to see? A movement in front of him caught his eye, and he registered Stub lifting his blaster to point it at – Renika?

He felt himself moving, felt his own gun drift upwards as Renika's blade burned outwards from her hilt, her hands flowing to block bolts that glided towards her in slow motion. He felt his finger tighten on his trigger.

The world slammed back into focus, and CT-4482 felt his stomach flip. They were shooting at Renika. He was shooting at Renika!

Bile rose up his throat, but his finger kept pulling on the trigger, his own blaster buzzing over the noise of bolts, sabers, and Box's groans.

No. _No, no, no, NO!_

It was almost a relief when Renika sliced through Box's neck. The blasts continued, but at least their Jedi had one less gun to deal with. CT-4482's leg stepped back, but his blaster kept firing even as he begged his body to run, or stop firing, or to turn the blaster to his own head. Renika's blade flashed again, and Stub's body crumpled to the floor. CT-4482 watched as the blade ripped through Ahmed, Tarion, Jared's, and finally Estas, the only other shiney.

Even as she turned to him, his blaster continued, shot after shot after shot.

He caught her eyes as her lightsaber plunged into his chest. They were glazed, her brow still furrowed.

As his hand released and his gun dropped to the ground, he gasped in a couple more breaths of dry, copper air. She grabbed him as he fell, blade retracting as she lowered him to the ground.

The world was-

It was-

It was dim now. It was over. He hadn't killed her. She got to him in time.

As his eyes closed, and as he slipped away, he sent his gratitude out into the Force.

 _Thank-you._

* * *

The sun was setting on a small, meaningless planet in Corvis Minor.

A lone figure trudged over the dunes, a brown cloak whipping in the night breeze.

She was tall, her orange eyes dull even as her red skin glowed in the dying sunlight.

A lightsaber was clutched to her chest _._

 _There is no emotion, there is peace._

 _There is no ignorance, there is knowledge._

 _There is no passion, there is serenity._

 _There is no chaos, there is harmony._

 _There is no death-_

 _There is no death-_

The figure stumbled, dropping to her knees as the last of the light dipped below the horizon.

 _There is no death?_

 _My_ _whole_ **unit** _is dead._

The lightsaber fell from her hands as her head dropped to her knees.

The galaxy burned on.

Renika sobbed.

* * *

 ** _Author's Note_**

 _Zabrak - Zabrak are a humanoid-ish species originally from Iridonia. Darth Maul was a Zabrak. Zabrak have two hearts, and are carnivorous. They are usually strong, brave, confident and optimistic._

 _Koochu - huttese for idiot. I figured that, well, they're clones. They travel the galaxy, so they can use swear words/insults from any language they want. Language training was probably a thing on Kamino anyway._

 _Corvis Minor - look it up. I used it because, when the republic realised they had no data on it, and where the data should be there was only a blaster, I figured they could be like "oh, shab! What if it turns out like Kamino? We didn't have any info on Kamino either, and look what happened there!" So they wanted to check it out, but it wasn't urgent or important enough to spare a normal Clone unit to do so. So they sent the koochu unit._

 _Shab - a mandalorian word for shit_

 _Di'kut - mandalorian for idiot_

 _Dejarik - the name of the board game R2-D2 and Chewbacca play in episode 4. I figured a dejaric-face could be something like a poker face._

 _Why the clones say 'sir' to Renika instead of 'ma'am'? Because the clones use sir to refer to Ahsoka and other female Jedi in Clone Wars, and I figured the same thing could happen here. Also, sir is used for all generals in our Earthly armies, regardless of sex or gender._

 _If you have any other questions, or if you've seen something that's got your nerd senses boiling in anger, feel free to let me know in the reviews. Dif tor heh smusma, and may the force be with you!_


End file.
